Pennsylvania garbage collection company fined over $16,000 after garbage man dies

A Centre County waste disposal company was fined over $16,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after one of its employees died earlier this year.

Nathan Kerstetter, 38, of Milesburg, who worked for Newman Hill Inc., died in the back of a garbage truck on Jan. 17, WJAC and WTAJ report.

The driver of the truck failed to notice an overhanging tree while backing up near the driveway of a residential home and backed into the tree while Kerstetter was sitting in the bed of the truck.

Kerstetter was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, news reports said.

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In a statement, OSHA said Newman Hill “failed to provide employment and a workplace that was free from known hazards that caused or could cause death or serious physical harm to workers because workers were exposed to the danger of being struck or trapped between hazards when riding on the running board while the garbage truck was reversing.”

The garbage truck driver, Dennis Butler, 68, was also cited for “careless reversing into the roadway,” WJAC reported.

Newman Hill must pay the $16,131 fine by July 25.